Pirtek Racing‘s Andrew Jordan says that the fourth British Touring Car Championship win of his season at Croft was an important one, bringing him right back into title contention heading into the summer break.
The reigning champion took his fourth win of the season in a frantic third race at the North Yorkshire venue on Sunday, surviving an opening lap clash with the Motorbase Performance Ford Focus of Fabrizio Giovanardi that saw the Italian spin into the barriers at Barcroft, Jordan pulling away for a comfortable victory.
The win came after results of sixth and fourth earlier in the day, but the Honda Civic driver said that the victory was exactly the motivation needed to spark a fightback after the summer break with further tests on the horizon for the team.
“It’s great to be back up there – we really needed it,” said Andrew. “Oulton Park was poor and we struggled in the first two races at Croft, so to get a win is so important.
“I’ve been on a bit of a downer, so it’s a great pick-up for the team and I to take this momentum forward into the break. The car was fantastic: the boys have been working so hard and I’d have been happy with a podium, but to get the win was special.
Jordan overturned a deficit in the second half of 2013 on his way to winning an emotional first BTCC title last October, and says that the Independent Honda team and himself will not give up on their pursuit of the rapid BMWs of West Surrey Racing – Colin Turkington leading the championship after two wins at both Oulton Park and Croft from pole position.
He added: “All the talk has been about the BMWs and how strong they are, but I’m just going to keep pushing and get the best I possibly can out of the package we have. It’s going to ebb and flow all year long, but we need to stay consistent and win races whenever we can.
“We’re going to do some testing in the break; we’ll be busy going through data looking at where we can improve both the car and myself. We won’t stop working.”
Jordan’s incident with Giovanardi in race three earned him a 10-place grid penalty for the opening race at Snetterton in August however, although his Pirtek Racing team have appealed the decision.
“Fabrizio completely caught me by surprise on the first lap with how much he slowed for the Jim Clark Esses”, commented Jordan.
The Red Bull Athlete heads into the sixth round at Snetterton on 2/3 August lying third in the championship, 28 points behind leader Turkington after the halfway stage of the season.
